Karnataka to digitise urban land records

Pilot project launched in Belgaum

Karnataka has initiated a move to digitise land records in urban areas. As a pilot project, Khasbagh area of Belgaum city has been taken up.

This is expected to ensure more transparency and easy access to survey records by the public.

Addressing a meet on 'Urban Sector Reforms: Towards Property Title Certification System', organised by the Karnataka revenue department and the Centre for Sustainable Development (CSD), Anirudh Kumar, secretary, Union urban development ministry said, the Belgaum project is being keenly watched by other states as it is the first such project taken up in the country.

As part of 'E-city Survey Records' pilot project, manual data, records, maps and survey sketches are to be digitised. These details will then be available on a CD-ROM for the revenue department to access the data whenever needed, he added.

Also the data may then also be posted on the department's website to be viewed by property owners and potential purchasers. One can look for details by a city survey number provided.

Speaking after inaugurating the meet, Karnataka revenue minister Jagadish Shettar said, "Over 32 per cent of the state's population is already in urban areas; this may reach 34 per cent very soon and 37 per cent over the next few years. There is pressure on available urban land. But, out of over 4,000 square km of urbanised land, less than 500 square km may have been actually surveyed and shown on land records. We want to rectify this situation, and a pilot project taken up in Belgaum provides for `E-city Survey Records' that can eventually be applied in 720 other urban centres."

He further said that the Karnataka government is considering making online registration of property transactions. This he said urban property values were steadily increasing and those buying property were often at the mercy of officials in sub-registrar's offices to get title deeds transferred and registered.

On protecting green belt in urban areas especially Bangalore, Shettar said that the government is planning measures to check registration of land in green belt areas.

Delivering his keynote address, CSD chairman and former Karnataka chief secretary A Ravindra said urban civic bodies and revenue departments are grappling with problems to make certified property documents available to owners and purchasers.

Due to the lack of proper surveys and other reasons, ownership of urban property was often subject to disputes and litigation. Even the Bangalore Development Authority had experienced this while forming new layouts, he added.

Quoting a McKinsey report he said, disputes over property titles in India is costing 1.3 per cent of the GDP.

Ravindra further said, "Australia and the United States have experimented with title insurance, often with private partners. The insurance company verifies the property records and the purchaser is insured against future disputes. In India, the general insurance companies or private companies can think on these terms. The property title is then certified and guaranteed by the government."